Tuesday, January 11, 2011

It's funny how Valentine's Day takes on different meanings as you age, isn't it?

When you're a kid, it's all about decorating your little Valentine's Day bag or basket for your desk and hoping that you'd get as many cute paper cards in there as possible... preferably with candy attached to them. As a teenager it's all about Oh My God, I might just die if I don't have a boyfriend on Valentine's Day, and all of the teen angst that goes along with that.

In college or as newlyweds, that's when celebrating everything love and passion and romance is in the air every February and time is spent choosing the right gift and the perfect flowers and the location for the ideal dinner.

As a parent, it's not that Valentine's Day isn't about my husband and I and our love anymore, but now it reaches further and includes our kids as well. Little Sister B will still be too young to understand this year, but Big Sister E won't be. In fact, she is going to fall right into that first category and is going to love passing out and receiving cards from all of her friends at school.

So, what does that mean? That she needs valentines to hand out, of course! Which means I turn to the site that has an adorable selection of Valentine's Day Cards: Pear Tree Greetings.

There's nothing wrong with licensed characters (we have plenty in our house), but when it comes to Kids Valentine's Day Cards, Pear Tree Greetings has so many options that are colorful and unique and just so much more fun. And as much as Big Sister E and I had a great time browsing the huge selection on the website, it was of course even more fun to see a sample of the cuteness in person.

These are clearly not the thin, generic, flimsy valentines that I remember from when I was young. Printed on 100 lb cardstock in bright, creative designs, Pear Tree Greetings has made handing out valentines to classmates or friends even more thrilling for kids than it was before.

From being able to color the Dinosaur Fever cards to giggling at the silly Monster Heart cards, each one had its own individual style and reason why we liked it. What little girl wouldn't want to see herself (and then show all her friends) how cute she is as the Queen of Hearts?

But Pear Tree Greetings has Valentine's Day Cards for more than just kids. In their selection of Valentine's Day Photo Cards, there are sweet options that would be perfect to surprise lucky family and friends. Who doesn't love getting a photo card to spread the love?

Well, they would enjoy it even more if it was the Cut-out Heart card, because it's just so simple and classic, yet whimsical and modern at the same time.

I love the clean-cut compilation of the photographs, the adorable "I Heart You" signature and, of course, the addition of the cut-out heart in the middle. It's just so cute!

Whether you're looking for those valentines that are sure to please kids or those that would bring a smile right to someone's mailbox, Pear Tree Greetings has a collection that can turn up the love and friendship for 2011. With free shipping on every Valentine's Day order (and they will be sent out in two days!) you can find the cards, stickers, gift tags or even address labels to make this holiday a memorable one.

Pear Tree Greetings even makes things easy by including deals on Valentine's Day (and more) on their promo code page! Now all you have to do is decide which cards to order... which, if you're having a hard time with that, you're in luck that Pear Tree Greetings helps out once again. Just browse the Kids Valentine's Day Variety Packs and choose the theme and number of cards and you'll end up with an assortment of great ones!

Is love in the air at your house? Thanks to the generosity of Pear Tree Greetings, one person will be able to express it in a stylish and fun way, because...

One lucky person will win 24 Kids Valentine's Day Cards of their choice from Pear Tree Greetings!

To enter to win: Tell me about your ideal Valentine's Day date OR visit Pear Tree Greetings and tell me which of their Kids Valentine's Day Cards you might choose if you win.

Extra Entries (available after the mandatory entry above is completed; please leave a separate comment for each entry in order for them to be counted).

1 Extra Entry (per method) if you follow Pear Tree Greetings on Twitter and/or Like them on Facebook.1 Extra Entry (per giveaway entered) - Enter any (or all) of the giveaways running on Thanks, Mail Carrier for the duration of this giveaway.1 Extra Entry if you follow me on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway by copying and pasting the tweet below and leaving me the link. Tweet daily for an extra entry every day!

WIN a set of Pear Tree Greetings Valentine's Day Cards for kids and spread the love! http://bit.ly/hNogRH #thxmailcarrier #win #giveaway

2 Extra Entries (per follow method) if you follow me publicly with Google Friend Connect, subscribe to my RSS feed, subscribe to Thanks, Mail Carrier by email or become a fan on Facebook.3 Extra Entries if you put my cute button up on your blog. Please leave an address where it can be found.3 Extra Entries if you blog about this giveaway linking back to Thanks, Mail Carrier and Pear Tree Greetings. Please leave an address where it can be found.Giveaway will end on February 4th at 11:59pm CST. Do me the favor of leaving an email address or making absolutely sure it is visible in your profile, I have to have a way to contact the winner. The winner will be chosen by random.org and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to contact me or respond to notification or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is open to U.S. residents only.A big thank you to Pear Tree Greetings for providing a sample of Valentine's Day Cards for review as well as 24 Valentine's Cards of choice for one lucky giveaway winner. The opinions shared are my own and honest if you really need to see more, click here to see how I roll.

My ideal date would be a quiet dinner at a nearby Mexican restaurant my husband and I love and then an overnight stay at a local bed and breakfast where we might actually be able to sleep past 5am(the time my 3year old always wakes up).